SANS Institute - CWE/SANS TOP 25 Most Dangerous Programming Errors

SANS Institute - CWE/SANS TOP 25 Most Dangerous Programming Errors: "the consensus list of the 25 most dangerous programming errors that lead to security bugs and that enable cyber espionage and cyber crime."

Techworld.com - The downside of the cloud

Techworld.com - The downside of the cloud: "Saving work and expense is a key reason why cloud services are expected to grow in the next few years. Last year, 4 percent of worldwide IT spending went to cloud services, and by 2012 that figure will be 9 percent, according to research company IDC. Because of its cost and space requirements, data storage is a prime candidate for using cloud technology, and IDC predicts storage will grow from 8 percent to 13 percent of cloud spending in that same period."

SLA@SOI

SLA@SOI: "our project is committed to research, engineer and demonstrate technologies that can embed SLA-aware infrastructures into the service economy"

Why a 'Google Web Drive' Won't Kill Windows, the PC or Anything Else | Epicenter from Wired.com

Why a 'Google Web Drive' Won't Kill Windows, the PC or Anything Else | Epicenter from Wired.com: "There are two essential problems with the whole cloud computing paradigm that no one has really solved.
The first is trust. It’s one thing to trust your e-mail to Google, it’s another thing to trust the company with the entirety of your digital life. Forget problems of security and privacy, even the basic issue of server downtime leaves many people cold.
The other big issue with online storage is that, for most of us, documents like spreadsheets, word processor files and the other formats that Google Docs understands are not what’s taking up the majority of space on our drives. Is the fabled GDrive going to store and sync my 200 or so gigabytes of mp3 files? For free? Somehow I doubt it. What about movies? If you’re like most of us GDrive will likely affect only your Documents folder — maybe four or five gigs worth of files, but hardly a substitute for your hard drive. Microsoft’s Live Sync service already offers exactly that and it hasn’t changed the way we use Windows, nor has it made us throw out our hard drives."

EETimes.com - Going green with DDR3 memory

EETimes.com - Going green with DDR3 memory: "Industry experts concede that about 82 percent of the $500 million bill for a typical large data center is going toward the facility's mechanical and electrical infrastructure.
For the data center server, one contributor to this higher power density is the memory subsystem. A typical 1U server requires a 600 to 1,000-W supply for its power. These high-end servers used in data centers support between 16 to 18 DRAM slots. On a DDR3 (double data rate 3) system, each single slot draws on average 9 W, using a typical 2-Gb module. The total memory subsystem power is around 144 to 162 W, which is nearly 25% of the available power for the system. Multiplying this by the power draw of 40,000 to 80,000 servers in a typical data center translates to between 5 to 13 MW (megawatts), just for the memory subsystem. Over 13,000 American homes can be powered using that same amount of power"

IBM teams up with universities on cloud project | Business Tech - CNET News

IBM teams up with universities on cloud project | Business Tech - CNET News: "IBM on Monday announced that it has partnered with three universities to develop one of the first cloud-computing platforms in the Middle East.
Big Blue, along with Carnegie Mellon University, Qatar University, and Texas A&M University in Qatar, plans to use the Qatar Cloud Computing Center to handle advanced research for search, data mining, scientific modeling and simulation, computational biology, and financial modeling"

A survey of corporate IT: IT's global “cloud” | Let it rise | The Economist

A survey of corporate IT: IT's global “cloud” | Let it rise | The Economist: "According to a recent study, 69% of Americans connected to the web use some kind of “cloud service”, including web-based e-mail or online data storage"

Google plans to make PCs history | Technology | The Observer

Google plans to make PCs history | Technology | The Observer: "cknowledged the growing demand for cloud computing. Dave Armstrong, head of product and marketing for Google Enterprise, said: 'There's a clear direction ... away from people thinking, 'This is my PC, this is my hard drive,'"

Citrix resurrects King George as hypervisor • The Register

Citrix resurrects King George as hypervisor • The Register: "Xen 3.3 has features that allow for dynamic reallocation memory between guest VMs and for VMs to migrate between different generations of processors. Xen 3.3 also includes support for power management features on servers, which can gear down or shut down unused components (such as cores and caches) that are not being used by workloads."

Forget Cloud Computing, What About Cloud Apps? - Data Center Networks

Forget Cloud Computing, What About Cloud Apps? - Data Center Networks: "I think these types of apps are another nail in the coffin of the traditional PC form factor. These types of apps continue to reduce the hardware requirements on the client side to the point we can completely dis-intermediate the PC altogether and cloud intelligence can be embedded directly into the everyday devices people use day-in and day-out."

Intel Communities: Emerging Compute Models White Paper - Intel

Intel Communities: Emerging Compute Models White Paper - Intel: "T has a range of centrally-managed
compute models from which to choose. From Terminal Services to VDI, from blade PCs
through application and OS streaming, each model has its advantages and trade-offs.
Rarely is a single compute model adequate to meet the needs of all users and all
applications."

Lotus Unveils Cloud Strategy, Mobile Integrations - CIO.com - Business Technology Leadership

Lotus Unveils Cloud Strategy, Mobile Integrations - CIO.com - Business Technology Leadership: "IBM/Lotus Monday began framing its cloud strategy around Notes/Domino and unveiled deeper support for BlackBerry devices on the 20th anniversary of the platform's introduction.

The company also pegged March as the timeframe to ship Alloy, formerly code-named Atlantic, an integration of Notes and SAP Business Suite that brings SAP data into the Notes collaboration environment."

Thoughts and Fragments: Real Terracotta @ Rome JavaDay 2009

Thoughts and Fragments: Real Terracotta @ Rome JavaDay 2009: "Real Terracotta - Real-world scalability patterns with Terracotta."

Intel, Citrix Collaborating on Desktop Virtualization

Intel, Citrix Collaborating on Desktop Virtualization: "Intel and Citrix plan to combine Intel’s vPro management and security technology with Citrix’s Xen hypervisor and other virtualization applications that will allow IT departments to run several secure virtual machines within the same corporate client"

Microsoft expansion to take a hit to cut costs

Microsoft expansion to take a hit to cut costs: "Last year, Microsoft increased the size of its work force by 16 percent. The company employs more than 94,000 people worldwide, including 40,000 in the Puget Sound region"

Cisco Plans Big Push Into Server Market - NYTimes.com

Cisco Plans Big Push Into Server Market - NYTimes.com: "companies like Cisco see an opportunity to produce a new, potentially disruptive class of hardware and software management systems that span an entire data center."

Humour

Humour: "It sounds like English, but I can't understand a word you're saying."

IBM to locate global computer programming center at Michigan State University | MSU News | Michigan State University

IBM to locate global computer programming center at Michigan State University | MSU News | Michigan State University: "EAST LANSING, Mich. — Big Blue has found a fertile spot to grow in the land of green and white, with IBM’s decision to locate an application development center on the campus of Michigan State University.

The first of its kind for the company in the United States, the IBM facility is the product of an agreement to expand MSU’s recruiting, research and educational partnerships with the information technology giant. IBM already is a top employer of MSU graduates.

The IBM Global Delivery Center for Application Services will be housed on the second floor of the former MSU Federal Credit Union headquarters on the south end of campus. A full-service MSUFCU branch on the first floor will continue to operate there."

cloud actions

Cloud Computing 2009 New Year’s Resolutions
Written by Michael Sheehan on Dec 29th, 2008 | Filed under: Cloud Computing, General, GoGrid, Hosting, Industry, ServePath

new_years_hat The start of a New Year is upon us so it is time to get a list together of things that you will do (or do your best to do) in the coming year. Everybody has their own personal Resolution lists, but what about your Business ones? How are you going to remain competitive? What steps are you going to take to cut your budget to remain lean and mean? Are you going to stick with your current methods or adopt some new strategies?

Here are some “Resolutions” that you can think about as you ready your business for 2009.

1. Invest some time in understanding the term “Cloud Computing” – there are several easy-to-understand definitions and movies that have come out that make Cloud Computing a bit more understandable. This one was done at the 2008 Web 2.0 Expo. Then came the GoGrid “Cloud Computing in Plain English”. Recently, there is a new “In Plain English” from the actual Common Craft folks (whom we got our inspiration from). And here is a more technical presentation that came out recently. Regardless, there are lots of sources out there for quick understandings. I have been maintaining a Bookmark RSS feed as well of many of the Cloud Computing blogs and sites. Subscribe to that feed for updated links. Also, read through the popular Cloud Computing Group on Google. Lastly, you can check Wikipedia for their ever evolving definition of Cloud Computing.
2. Do some research on different Cloud Providers – no Cloud Computing provider is the same, and the differentiation is continuing. Last year (2008), I introduced the idea of the Cloud Pyramid which has Cloud Applications (SalesForce) at the top, then Cloud Platforms (Google App Engine or Microsoft Azure) in the middle and finally Cloud Infrastructure (GoGrid and Amazon EC2) as the bottom foundation. Also hooked into it are Cloud Extenders (e.g., Amazon’s SQS) and Cloud Aggregators (RightScale). It’s pretty obvious that there are many choices to be made and that these are very specific to the type of business you are running. In fact, we will be further segmenting the IaaS (Cloud Infrastructure) section more over the next few weeks. Briefly, GoGrid is now being positioned as a “CloudCenter” (which is essentially, a DataCenter equivalent but in the Cloud). More on that later. In the meantime, compile a series of questions for yourself and for your prospective provider. We will get a list together of things you might want to ask (post to come).
3. Review your IT Budget – If you are like most companies out there, you are going through your 2009 budgeting (or have done so already and are probably on your 10th revision now). One way to make your CFO happy is to reduce your Capital Expenditures (CapEx). The easiest way to do that is to really take a hard look at Cloud Computing. If you can slash your CapEx spend by downsizing your physical server footprints, you can easily upsize that same footprint in the Cloud.
4. Empower your Programmers – Cloud Computing offers something new to Programmers: the ability to programmatically control their IT infrastructure. Using an API, Programmers can skin the functionality provided by Clouds as well as develop “intelligent” applications that scale dynamically, for example.
5. Empower your IT Staff – Be sure that you don’t ignore your IT Staff as you look at the Cloud as a physical IT infrastructure alternative. They have some best practices and standards that should be incorporated in what your IT strategies will be. Let them experiment with the Cloud so that they fully grasp what it can do for your organization. They may tell you that it is a great direction to go in, or, they may say that your current infrastructure simply cannot be ported to the Cloud. There may also be some hybrid solutions (like GoGrid’s Cloud Connect) that will give them the best of both worlds.

Goodreads | quotes by Dorothy Parker (page 1 of 2)

Goodreads | quotes by Dorothy Parker (page 1 of 2): "'I like to have a martini,
Two at the very most.
After three I'm under the table,
after four I'm under my host.'
— Dorothy Parker"